The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has issued a directive requiring individuals holding more than 10 SIM cards to de-register the excess cards through their respective operators by October 30, 2025.
Subscribers can check their registered SIM details by dialing *16001#.
This move is part of BTRC’s ongoing efforts to streamline SIM card registration and enhance regulation in the telecommunication sector.
Starting 1 August, BTRC imposed a new rule limiting each customer to a maximum of 10 SIM cards registered under a single National Identification (NID) number. All excess SIMs must be de-registered by October 30, 2025.
SIM registration was made mandatory in Bangladesh in 2015, and the limit was raised to 15 SIM cards per customer in 2017.
However, due to rising concerns about SIM fraud, misuse, and criminal activity, BTRC reduced the limit from 15 to 10 SIM cards in May 2025 to bolster security.
BTRC data reveals that Bangladesh currently has 67.59 million registered SIM users.
Of these, 80.32% of users have five or fewer SIM cards, 16.23% use between six and 10, and 3.45% have between 11 and 15 SIM cards.
The new regulation will require around 2.6 million customers to de-register 6.7 million excess SIM cards.